“It’s fine.” She claps him on the shoulder, successfully cutting him off. “Good luck with your stirring, Mender.”
Hojat shoots me an unreadable look, but then he turns back to his pot, stirring and looking into the mixture like it’s the most interesting thing he’s ever seen. Uneasiness crawls over me like an insect in my sheets.
The woman looks me up and down. “Let’s go see your saddles, shall we?”
I shoot one more look at Hojat, but he’s pointedly ignoring us.
I clear my throat. “Lead the way.”
Warily, I fall into step with her. My need to see the others is outweighing all of my reservations. Besides, Hojat would’ve warned me if she was bad news…
Right?
Chapter 15
AUREN
The woman beside me moveslike a bird.
Light on her feet, she doesn’t stalk, or stomp, or even do what I’d describe as a walk. She flits, moving over packed snow with a swooping grace I didn’t know was possible, while all I can do is try not to slip.
She takes me in the opposite direction I was heading, keeping away from the crowded bonfire at the cave, and even though I don’tseeher eyes on me, I can feel them. The prickle on the side of my face tells me that she’s taking my measure.
My shoulders are tight under the silent observation, my lips pressed together to keep from speaking. It’s not until we’re well away from Hojat that she talks to me.
“So,you’rethe famous gilded woman that everyone’s been talking about.”
“Unless you have another one stashed somewhere.”
She huffs, though I can’t tell if it’s in irritation or amusement. I hope it’s the latter.
We approach a smaller campfire with a group of thirty or so soldiers gathered around it, but she abruptly veers to the left, behind a stack of firewood. I nearly trip from her sudden change in direction.
On the next aisle, there are a few soldiers walking around, and once again, she cuts a corner, making us squeeze between tightly-packed tents as she leads us to another pathway.
A sense of foreboding crawls over my skin as I look around the empty aisle. “Youaretaking me to see the saddles...right?”
“I said I was, didn’t I?”
Well, that’s not an answer at all.
Every time we see another soldier, she changes direction, until I’m so turned around and worried about her clandestine efforts that I don’t know which one is making me more nauseated. Either the commander really wouldn’t give me permission to see the saddles and she’s breaking the rules, or...
Oh, great Divine. She’s going to murder me.
Every sharp turn and ducking maneuver she performs to avoid nearby soldiers makes me more certain it’s the latter option.
Thanks a lot, Hojat.I’d really started to like the intestine-stirring army mender, too.
My ribbons trill nervously beneath my coat, but just as I’m about to turn and try to make a break for it, the woman claps her hands. “Yes!”
I stop in my tracks, watching as she hurries over to one of the tents and crouches down beside a large wooden barrel sitting right at the front of it.
When she sees me still standing a few paces away, she gives me an impatient look. “What are you doing over there? Hurry up and come help me with this.”
I blink in bewilderment before lurching forward at her glare, stopping in front of the barrel. “What do you want me to do?”
She rolls her eyes. “What do you think? Grab the end of this.” Without warning, she shoves the barrel over, giving me only a split-second warning to catch it.
